African Union (AU) peacekeepers are outgunned and outnumbered by rebels and militias in Darfur, the AU force commander Martin Luther Agwai said on Tuesday. He said this was one reason an AU base in Haskanita, south-east Darfur, was overwhelmed so quickly during a recent attack on the peacekeepers.
A former politician and a controversial figure were the only candidates interviewed in Cape Town on Tuesday for a vacant judge position in the Bophuthatswana (North West) provincial division. They are former Democratic Alliance MP Lawrence Lever and former North West acting judge Cecile Zwiegelaar.
Russia threatened on Tuesday to cut gas supplies to Ukraine again in a move that appears to reflect its displeasure at the prospect of a new orange government in Kiev. Gazprom, the state-controlled monopoly, said it would reduce supplies to Ukraine next month unless it settled a bill of more than ,3-billion.
The Canadian general who headed the United Nations peacekeeping force during the 1994 Rwandan genocide gave a chilling account on Tuesday of how roadblocks popped up like mushrooms and served only to pick out and murder Tutsis. Romeo Dallaire testified at the Canadian war crimes trial of Desire Munyaneza, who is accused of leading the attacks.
The United States company at the centre of the scandal over the role of private security guards in Iraq brushed aside accusations that it was a cowboy outfit on Tuesday, even as details emerged about a incident in which an allegedly drunken member was involved in a fatal shooting.
Premier Soccer League (PSL) executive members have not been paid commission for their part in the R1,6-billion television rights deal or the R500-million Absa sponsorship deal. The PSL had not even formally decided yet whether it would pay its negotiators any commission at all, said chairperson Irvin Khoza.
The word fibre immediately conjures up an image of something one should ingest in sufficient quantities to keep the digestive system healthy — and perhaps it brings to mind advertising messages with shrinking images showing the positive effects of getting it right. But fibre — or fibrous materials — are present in every step of a person’s day. From the pillow and bedding on the bed, to curtains and the carpet fibres underfoot.
Addressing the skills shortage in the South African ICT sector should be the role of the vendors within the industry who must pull together to find a solution for what is a common problem. The ICT sector in South Africa is in the midst of a growing skills shortage. Projections in this regard paint a bleak picture for the industry. Government has called on local role players within the sector to formulate a solution to this problem and meet local needs.
Forestry is a topic that doesn’t often make headlines — except when runaway fires destroy thousands of trees, as happened recently across the country on a large scale, in what was described as the worst forest fires in South African history. More than 50 000ha of commercial plantations were destroyed (and another 18 000ha in Swaziland). The cost to timber companies ran into hundreds of millions of rands.
Fresh fruit remains at the centre of most healthy diets. Apples, oranges, apricots, pears, in fact, anything that one can eat fresh has health benefits to the consumer. And fresh fruit exports represent more than 7% of South Africa’s export with its largest trading partner, the European Union. South African fruit is highly sought-after overseas.